In addition to his dates with Jean-Luc
Ponty, Marc Moulin's Placebo and the Pork Pie ensemble, Philip Catherine issued a few notables under his own name. While Stream is a rarity that's so far eluded me, the club favourite "Give It Up" holds great promise. Nairam is a N. American compilation of tracks from the September Man and Guitars albums, which were released only in Europe. Both original albums were produced by Marc Moulin, although this'd be difficult to determine in a blindfold test. September Man has a fine cast of players, including Catherine with Charlie Mariano, Jasper Van't Hof, Palle Mikkelborg and Lee/Brown on the bottom end. It's not entirely stunning but is valued for John Lee's mind-melting "Nineteen Seventy Fourths", an exceedingly loose and spiralling groove complete with phased hi-hats, drifting organ and great collective improvs. The more progressive Guitars is less intriguing; here, Catherine's processed arpeggios often remind me of Alan Holdsworth. Uh, take this how you may. [DW]